Water ski bindings typically have been constructed with an elastic or resilient upper that is directly mounted on the top surface of a water ski or fastened to a baseplate which in turn is mounted on the ski. The upper is shaped to snugly receive and support a skier's foot. Examples of such water ski bindings are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,089,158, 3,119,130, 3,121,891 and 4,389,200.
Although efforts have been made in prior water ski bindings to shape the binding upper to properly support and fit a skier's foot, little emphasis has been placed on incorporating into the binding design the shape of the underside of the skier's foot. For instance, in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,121,891, the skier's foot rests directly on the top surface of a water ski and in U.S. Pat. No. 3,089,158, the skier's foot rests on a flat, rigid plate on which the binding upper is mounted. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,389,200 does provide a flat, uniform, thickness foam pad and 3,119,130 provides a wedge-shaped neoprene pad which is higher in the rear heel area than the front toe area. However, such pads are not contoured to correspond to the shape of a bottom of a foot and, thus, cannot provide maximum support or comfort for the skier.
A water ski binding having a base assembly contoured into the shape of the bottom of a skier's foot would not only provide better support and comfort over prior binding designs, but also would enhance the skier's safety in several ways. Such a binding would provide a better fit and, thus, give greater control over the ski so that the skier is less likely to sustain an injurious fall.